Just back from a splendid campervan holiday in Cumbria and Yorkshire – what stunning, stunning scenery. This will, fortunately, have to be a bit brief – lots of sorting out to do and preparations to make for the arrival of my lovely sister Sallie and her husband Rod who arrive tomorrow. A brief synopsis and a few photos will have to suffice. There’s no rest for the wicked (or even the partially wicked).
We started by making our way to Beetham in Cumbria to visit our lovely former neighbours who moved there about a year ago. Beetham is lovely, the surrounding countryside is gorgeous and Lesley & Graham are magnificent hosts. We did lots (for me) of walking and visited, amongst other places, Cathedral Quarry & Slater’s Bridge in Little Langdale, Levens Hall (home to the world’s oldest topiary), and Kendal itself (with a wacky highly costumed affair going on). We took advantage of a dinner/cinema deal at Zeffirellis in Ambleside – the meal was absolutely delicious and the film (for which you wander upstairs) was fine – a sweet “rom-com” with Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie, A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey.
More walking! Across the neighbouring Deer Park to Milnthorpe and Sunday breakfast at the Roads and Rivers Café. Absolutely delicious and thriving to judge by the substantial number of folks.
Monday, just for the heck of it, we caught the train from Arnside to Silecroft and a romp on the beach for Daisy and Lesley & Graham’s Bertie. Not the best weather in the world but the Sunset Cafe was magnificent – French toast with maple syrup and bacon was on the menu. I can’t remember the last time I had French toast and, when it arrived, it was more than a sufficiently generous helping, enough to feed a small army.
After a few days in Beetham we set off on the road across the Yorkshire Dales and Moors to our campsite for the next few days in Slingsby. This was ideally situated for a visit to Castle Howard and Rievaulx Abbey, both of which had long been on my “to visit” list. And, both were stunning in their own way.
Our next trek was across to the coast at, firstly, Staithes, a lovely, tiny seaside harbour, and then on to Whitby, much more of a tourist-oriented seaside town. Whitby is known for its association with Captain Cook who was an apprentice seaman here as well as Whitby Abbey, the setting for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
And finally, back across the Dales and Moors and home again just as Storm Amy brought 100 mph gale force winds and lashings and lashings of rain. Not a fun drive down the M1 but it’s grand to be home.
And, I think that’s it about it for this week! My lovely sister Susie’s birthday is today! Happy Birthday to you. And Brex-Anna’s birthday is this coming Thursday – happy birthday to you too! And, if that weren’t enough excitement for one week, it’s also my grand-nephew Theo’s birthday today. I suspect he is more excited about his birthday than either Susie or Brex-Anna!
Meanwhile, keep breathing, keep happy, keep smiling, keep exercising, be good, be careful, and keep safe. And be gentle to wasps and bees – we need all the pollinators we can get.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg